Many experts believed it couldn't be done, but researchers in Japan have successfully introduced chloroplasts into hamster cells.

Researchers say they have successfully cultivated animal cells that draw energy through photosynthesis. Previously believed ...

The experiment hinges on a key element: chloroplasts. These organelles, present in plants, convert sunlight into energy usable by the cell. Until now, it was believed they could only function in plant ...

Scientists have uncovered genetic variation in the unexplored DNA of the photosynthetic and energy factories of Arabidopsis plants, which plays a ...

For the first time, scientists have created animal cells that can harness sunlight for energy—a feat once thought ...

Animal and plant cells have different energy-producing ... which prevents cell division. By mixing in chloroplast-implanted cells, oxygen could be supplied to the cells through photosynthesis ...

Furthermore, even chloroplasts find it hard to sustain themselves in the environment of an animal cell. Algae and plant species photosynthesize under 30 degrees Celsius, while the animal cells are ...

All about the way plants turn sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into food.

The problem, however, is that animals’ immune systems tend to destroy chloroplasts the moment they are introduced into their cells, which is why no one has ever managed to get them to stick before.

Researchers had given up on achieving photosynthesis in animals, Professor Sachihiro Matsunaga told Newsweek, but that didn't stop him and his colleagues.

In a field that has historically focused on distinct roles of plant and animal cells, the idea of implanting chloroplasts – organelles in plants and algae that convert sunlight into energy – into ...